Luton’s Churches encouraged to transform Luton into a place where everyone thrives

The Christian festival of Pentecost is about celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples & followers of Jesus after his Ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter.

In Luton, the Pentecost celebrations were held by the Churches Together in Luton (CTL) at the Luton Christian Fellowship (Castle Street) last Sunday.

Christians from different backgrounds worshipped and prayed together, and celebrated the diversity of the Christian communities in Luton.

A day before the Pentecost, CTL also gathered a group of over 40 Church leaders from different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds at its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The keynote speaker was Pas Trevor Adams. Sharing his journey from northwest London to Stopsley in 1987, and then to Marsh Farm in 1995, Pas Adams said: “Building relationships in Luton’s communities has been an integral part of my ministry and service in Luton.”

After the riots in the summer 1995 in Marsh Farm, Pas Adams said: “We sensed there was brokenness. People wanted to connect and reach out.”

So following the perfect model of Jesus as the servant-king, who came not to be served but to serve, Pas Adams said he decided to become a servant-leader. He started to build networks, build relationships, and build communication. He encouraged all Christian faith leaders to do the same, wherever we are.

He talked about the newly launched Luton 2040 vision by the Luton Council.

He said: “It is about transforming Luton where everyone thrives. It has significance for us all, because it is about the place where we live. It is an opportunity for the Churches to make a positive difference in our town. It is about eliminating poverty, and no one else understands poverty better than us, because of who we serve.”

He also talked about the other aspects of the Luton 2040 vision, which include the health and well-being of all, employment for young people, and Luton becoming a child-friendly town.

He called upon all the Christian faith leaders and churches to explore how we can become the ‘salt of the earth’, because that is what Jesus called us to be. Let us be the servant-leaders and leave a positive influence in our town. Luton needs it and that is the only way we can transform Luton.